An 8-year-old Pagosa Springs boy was in
intensive care in Durango Tuesday morning after being attacked by two
dogs in the Vista subdivision west of town Monday.

According to Archuleta County Sheriff's
Department reports, Garrett Carothers was outside near his home on
Canyon Circle when he was found with two large dogs attacking him,
still on top of him.

Apparently, witnesses Jason McKean and
Donald Prokop were first on the scene.

"They had stopped at a stop sign and looked
right and saw the trail of blood," Deputy Tom Gaskins said. At the
sight of blood, they told the deputy, they believed a dog had
possibly been hit and they turned onto the circle to investigate. As
they rounded the circle, they saw two large dogs stand up and back
off something. Once the dogs were up, the men saw a child sit up. The
boy was bleeding and had extensive injuries to his face and
head.

According to reports, the men called 9-1-1,
went to cover the boy with coats and tried to keep the dogs at bay.
About the same time, a United Parcel Service truck arrived and two
more people got out to help. The names of the UPS employees were not
known at press time.

Emergency Medical Services personnel arrived
next and immediately began to treat the boy.

Gaskins, who was on assignment east of town
on U.S. 160 when the dog attack call came in, arrived on scene after
the ambulance. "About 12 or 15 people had gathered and they started
hollering at me to shoot the dogs," he said. With the number of
people in the area and the close proximity of the residences,
shooting the dogs was not an immediate solution. Instead, he began to
work to herd the dogs and people apart. The injured boy was already
in the ambulance.

As Gaskins worked to corner the dogs, one, a
large pit bull, came at him. "I must have drawn my weapon, though I
don't remember doing it," he said. "He was coming pretty fast and
hard and as he started his lunge at me, that's when I shot him." The
shot was fatal.

The other dog, a Rottweiler and retriever
mix, backed onto the porch of its home. Gaskins said, with help from
a Colorado State Patrol Trooper, he was able to keep that dog
cornered until a catchpole could be located and brought to the scene.
The dog was taken to the Pagosa Springs Humane Society where it was
quarantined.

Capt. Bob Grandchamp said both dogs, owned
by David Martinez, were licensed and vaccinated. It is unknown at
this time if they escaped from the fenced yard or were allowed to run
free. According to records, the Pagosa Lakes Property Owners
Association has cited the owner twice for having dogs at
large.

As of Tuesday morning, no charges had been
filed concerning the attack. A final determination on filings will be
made by the district attorney's office. What happens to the remaining
dog is unknown at this time. Grandchamp said it looks like a judge
will determine the dog's fate, but more research is needed.

Carothers remained in intensive care Tuesday
morning in fair condition at Mercy Medical Center. Staff there said
he would most likely be moved into the pediatrics ward later in the
day.

Natural gas users to receive
refund soon

By Richard Walter

Staff Writer

It didn't physically get here by the
holiday, but advance word had Christmas gift meaning for Pagosa area
natural gas users.

Kinder Morgan Inc. announced late last week
that refund checks will be mailed to approximately 13,000 company
customers in its southern Colorado service area, which includes
Pagosa Springs.

The payments are to be made in accordance
with the company's tariff, which requires it to pass the cost of
purchasing gas through to customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
Kinder Morgan customers as of Nov. 1, 2002, are eligible for the
refund, which is based on natural gas use from July 1, 2001 through
Aug. 31, 2002.

"The actual cost to purchase gas on behalf
of customers during this period was substantially less than original
projections, and we are pleased to be able to pass along this
one-time refund and bring the account into balance," said Dan Watson,
president of Kinder Morgan's Retail Natural Gas Division.

"Also contributing to the lower costs for
customers," he said, "was Kinder Morgan's success in negotiating new
contracts for natural gas supplies since the company's acquisition of
Citizens Communications' natural gas division late last year."

The refund rate in the southern Colorado
service territory, which includes Pagosa Springs, will be $0.2344 per
hundred cubic feet of natural gas used in the qualifying
period.

Spread evenly in the respective rate areas,
the refund checks will average about $385 per residence in the Pagosa
Springs region and approximately $450 per household in La Junta and
surrounding communities.

Watson said the checks will be mailed during
January 2003.

Kinder Morgan operates more than 35,000
miles of natural gas and products pipelines and has significant
retail distribution, electric generation and terminal assets.

Snow arrives just in time for
the holiday

By John M. Motter

Staff Writer

Bing Crosby must have been thinking of
Pagosa Springs when he sang "I'm dreaming of a white
Christmas."

Snow - white, white snow - is glistening all
across Pagosa Country from the top of Wolf Creek Ski Area to the
banks of the icy San Juan River in the middle of downtown Pagosa
Springs. Those who love to ski, skate and snowmobile are finding
local conditions almost perfect.

Large numbers of visitors are expected over
the coming holiday. Traditionally, more skiers visit the area between
Christmas and New Year's Day than any other week of the winter
season.

By Saturday and Sunday, visitation at Wolf
Creek Ski Area could reach more than 4,000 a day, according to
Melissa Arnold, the resort's snow reporter. Wolf Creek Ski Area is
enjoying close to average attendance so far this season, Arnold said.
That average ranges between 2,000 and 3,000 skiers a day and will
increase after Christmas.

Snow on the slopes at Wolf Creek is deep and
delicious. All of the mountain is open. The snow depth is 84 inches
on top, 67 inches midway. So far this season, 167 inches of snow have
fallen on the San Juans in the Wolf Creek area.

"Compared to last year, that's pretty good,"
Arnold said.

Winter revelers should find the best of all
conditions: snow on the ground, plenty of blue sky and sunshine
above.

Christmas Day was expected to be partly
cloudy with occasional patches of fog, according to Paul Frisbie, a
forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Grand
Junction. High temperatures were expected to be in the upper 20s or
low 30s.

The forecast for today is mostly sunny,
tomorrow will be mostly clear and Saturday should shift to partly
cloudy. A chance for additional snow returns Sunday and Monday.
Nighttime lows could drop into the single-digit range starting
Saturday night.

A low-pressure trough that brought as much
as 34 inches of snow to the ski area last week moved out Tuesday,
Frisbie said. In its place, a high-pressure ridge moved in and is
dominating weather conditions through Saturday. The high will start
moving out Saturday and will be replaced over the next couple of days
by a low-pressure trough moving in from the West Coast. The
low-pressure trough contains quite a lot of moisture, according to
Frisbie.

Meanwhile, local ski rental outlets are
enjoying a good holiday season and expect even more visitors after
Christmas.

"Our ski season is good," said Larry Fisher
of Ski and Bow Rack. "It will start to get even better after
Christmas. Starting today could see the busiest week of the
season."

Jeff Greer of Summit Ski and Sports echoed
Fisher's report.

"So far, so good," Greer said. "All of the
new snow helped. The best is between Christmas and New
Year's."

Both say that, while the week between
Christmas and New Year's Day is the busiest week of the year, the
busiest month of the year is March when spring break is in
progress.

The town-operated ice skating pond located
behind the River Center near the east end of town is open. In
addition, a large number of Forest Service roads winding into the
mountains from Pagosa Springs are closed to vehicular traffic during
the winter. The same roads are popular with snowmobilers and
cross-country skiers.

The Forest Service and the San Juan Mountain
Association are jointly developing a trail system generally known as
the Turkey Springs Trail. A cabin rental is associated with the
Turkey Springs Trail system. For details on the trail system, Forest
Service roads, and winter recreation on Forest Service lands, visit
or call the Pagosa Ranger District office in Pagosa Springs,
264-2268.

Rental cross-country skis and ice skates are
available in Pagosa Springs.

Snow enthusiasts who visit the local
backcountry should be aware of danger from avalanches. Information on
avalanche conditions and safety measures is available at the Pagosa
Ranger District office.

Finally, Pagosa Springs is a Mecca for those
who enjoy a "ski and soak" regimen: ski during the day, soak at one
of the local, naturally-heated, mineral water spas during the
evening.

High temperatures last week ranged between
36 and 24 degrees with an average high temperature of 29.3 degrees.
Low temperatures ranged between zero degrees and 14 degrees with an
average low temperature of 6.6 degrees. The Fred Harman Art Museum
provided the local readings this week.

Campaign expense
report:

Lynch spends $20,200

By John M. Motter

Staff Writer

Mamie Lynch was the big spender this year
among candidates for local elected office.

While defeating incumbent Gene Crabtree in
the race for county commissioner from Commissioner District 3, Lynch
reported contributions and expenses amounting to $20,200, some from
her own resources.

Crabtree spent about $943, all from his own
pocket.

The next biggest spender for a local office
was Tom Richards, who won the sheriff's race for the fourth
consecutive time. Richards was opposed by write-in candidate Chuck
Allen, who reported spending no money. Richards collected $5,396 and
spent $6,649 on behalf of his election, according to reports on his
behalf submitted to the county election official.

The other candidates for local office spent
little or no money campaigning because there was no need; they had no
opposition.

An exception was a campaign to oppose the
re-election of James Denvir as county judge. A "Committee to Remove
James Denvir," with Curtis R. Hannay as agent, collected and spent
$1,949 in the effort. The campaign to remove Denvir failed. On the
same issue, the Archuleta County Chapter of the Southwest Bar
Association with Mary Weiss as agent collected and spent $49.50 to
Support the Retention of James Denvir.

State law governing the 2002 general
election required all candidates for county office to file an
affidavit with the county clerk and recorder describing the office
they were seeking and containing certain other information.
Candidates for office with other entities with elections run by the
county clerk were also required to file affidavits with the
clerk.

Entities that run their own elections must
designate an election official and meet the same requirements as
those met by the county clerk and recorder.

Any person or persons or group of persons
supporting a particular issue on the ballot must also register with
the clerk or appropriate election official. Disclosure statements may
be filed by various committees supporting specific candidates or
issues.

Persons running for office who spent money
to be elected were required to report expenditures and contributions
to the county clerk on a regular basis. Contributions or expenditures
of $20 or more were to be individually itemized. Contributions or
expenditures of less than $20 were lumped together in the report.
There was no limit on the amount that could be contributed to a
candidate for county office.

Candidates who spent no money were not
required to report, according to June Madrid, the county election
official.

Electronic filing is permitted by Colorado,
but has not been allowed in Archuleta County, Madrid said.

Election and disclosure rules change from
year to year, Madrid said. To be clear on the changes, candidates
should check with her.

The laws are contained in the Colorado
Revised Statutes Title 1, Article 45 and are titled Colorado Fair
Campaign Practices Act.

Weather

Date High Low Precipitation

Type Depth Moisture

12/18

36

11

S

-

.01

12/19

26

1

S

-

.02

12/20

27

0

S

-

.07

12/21

31

7

S

-

.02

12/22

29

1

S

-

.02

12/23

32

14

-

-

-

12/24

25

13

-

-

-

Snow arrives just in time for
the holiday

By John M. Motter

Staff Writer

Bing Crosby must have been thinking of
Pagosa Springs when he sang "I'm dreaming of a white
Christmas."

Snow - white, white snow - is glistening all
across Pagosa Country from the top of Wolf Creek Ski Area to the
banks of the icy San Juan River in the middle of downtown Pagosa
Springs. Those who love to ski, skate and snowmobile are finding
local conditions almost perfect.

Large numbers of visitors are expected over
the coming holiday. Traditionally, more skiers visit the area between
Christmas and New Year's Day than any other week of the winter
season.

By Saturday and Sunday, visitation at Wolf
Creek Ski Area could reach more than 4,000 a day, according to
Melissa Arnold, the resort's snow reporter. Wolf Creek Ski Area is
enjoying close to average attendance so far this season, Arnold said.
That average ranges between 2,000 and 3,000 skiers a day and will
increase after Christmas.

Snow on the slopes at Wolf Creek is deep and
delicious. All of the mountain is open. The snow depth is 84 inches
on top, 67 inches midway. So far this season, 167 inches of snow have
fallen on the San Juans in the Wolf Creek area.

"Compared to last year, that's pretty good,"
Arnold said.

Winter revelers should find the best of all
conditions: snow on the ground, plenty of blue sky and sunshine
above.

Christmas Day was expected to be partly
cloudy with occasional patches of fog, according to Paul Frisbie, a
forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Grand
Junction. High temperatures were expected to be in the upper 20s or
low 30s.

The forecast for today is mostly sunny,
tomorrow will be mostly clear and Saturday should shift to partly
cloudy. A chance for additional snow returns Sunday and Monday.
Nighttime lows could drop into the single-digit range starting
Saturday night.

A low-pressure trough that brought as much
as 34 inches of snow to the ski area last week moved out Tuesday,
Frisbie said. In its place, a high-pressure ridge moved in and is
dominating weather conditions through Saturday. The high will start
moving out Saturday and will be replaced over the next couple of days
by a low-pressure trough moving in from the West Coast. The
low-pressure trough contains quite a lot of moisture, according to
Frisbie.

Meanwhile, local ski rental outlets are
enjoying a good holiday season and expect even more visitors after
Christmas.

"Our ski season is good," said Larry Fisher
of Ski and Bow Rack. "It will start to get even better after
Christmas. Starting today could see the busiest week of the
season."

Jeff Greer of Summit Ski and Sports echoed
Fisher's report.

"So far, so good," Greer said. "All of the
new snow helped. The best is between Christmas and New
Year's."

Both say that, while the week between
Christmas and New Year's Day is the busiest week of the year, the
busiest month of the year is March when spring break is in
progress.

The town-operated ice skating pond located
behind the River Center near the east end of town is open. In
addition, a large number of Forest Service roads winding into the
mountains from Pagosa Springs are closed to vehicular traffic during
the winter. The same roads are popular with snowmobilers and
cross-country skiers.

The Forest Service and the San Juan Mountain
Association are jointly developing a trail system generally known as
the Turkey Springs Trail. A cabin rental is associated with the
Turkey Springs Trail system. For details on the trail system, Forest
Service roads, and winter recreation on Forest Service lands, visit
or call the Pagosa Ranger District office in Pagosa Springs,
264-2268.

Rental cross-country skis and ice skates are
available in Pagosa Springs.

Snow enthusiasts who visit the local
backcountry should be aware of danger from avalanches. Information on
avalanche conditions and safety measures is available at the Pagosa
Ranger District office.

Finally, Pagosa Springs is a Mecca for those
who enjoy a "ski and soak" regimen: ski during the day, soak at one
of the local, naturally-heated, mineral water spas during the
evening.

High temperatures last week ranged between
36 and 24 degrees with an average high temperature of 29.3 degrees.
Low temperatures ranged between zero degrees and 14 degrees with an
average low temperature of 6.6 degrees. The Fred Harman Art Museum
provided the local readings this week.

Sports
Page

Parks &
Rec

Skating ponds open behind River
Center

By Joe Lister Jr.

SUN Columnist

Over 110 athletes will participate in this
year's Pagosa Springs parks and recreation youth basketball
league.

Because of time and schedule restraints all
games will be held at the Community Center gymnasium. We are trying
to get kids home at a decent hour on school nights so games will
begin at 5:30 p.m. with the last game ending around 8:30 p.m. Games
will also be played on Saturdays.

In 11-12 action, sponsors and coaches
include M and M Drop Service Celtics coached by Kevin Portnell; Troy
Ross Construction Jazz coached by Troy Ross; August and Sons
Excavating Kings coached by Andy Gonzales; Ponderosa Do It Best Bucks
coached by Mike Haynes and Mark Faber; Schmidt Chiropratic Suns
coached by Kahle Charles; and the Citizens Bank Bulls coached by Stan
Martinez.

Thank you sponsors and coaches for your time
and investment to help make these leagues a success for the
children.

Skating

The pond is open, but conditions are not the
best. As the winter goes on and temperatures continue to drop,
conditions on the ice will improve.

The hours for skating will be Mondays and
Thursdays, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays
and Sundays daybreak-9 p.m. Thank you for your patience and we hope
to see you out there skating.

We are still interested in hiring a skating
instructor. Anyone interested should call Joe Lister Jr. at 264-4151,
Ext. 231.

Lady Pirates erase big deficit
with solid team play to defeat Manitou Springs at the Rye Girls
Classic

By Richard Walter

Staff Writer

Your opponent's all-state volleyball player
has 14 points almost before your girls have their warm-ups off.
You're down 18-10 at the end of that first period, and your foe seems
to be able to score at will on a foreign basketball court.

That was the scenario facing the Pagosa
Springs Lady Pirates in their final game in the Rye Girls Classic
Saturday as they took on Manitou Springs and their top athlete,
Chelsea Woloszyn.

As noted, Woloszyn had 14 of her team's 18
points in the quarter, with Ashley Heidenreich adding three and
Jillian Steen one from the stripe.

In a harbinger of things to come, though no
one realized it at the time, Shannon Walkup tallied six for Pagosa
while her sister, Lori, and Bri Scott each added a field goal.

Pagosa cut into the Lady Mustangs' lead by
three, outscoring them 8-5 in the second period as both squads went
temporarily cold from the floor. Six of Pagosa's points came from
Lori Walkup and Caitlyn Jewell added the other two with her first
field goal.

Manitou opened quickly in the third and ran
the lead back out to 10 before the Lady Pirates responded. Each
Walkup had a pair of field goals in the period, offsetting a pair by
Woloszyn. Senior forward Katie Bliss added a two-pointer for Pagosa
and Jewell chipped in with three points.

Shira Spielman had six of her 11 points for
the game in the period and Heidenreich and Amanda Szerra each added a
single field goal. When the smoke had cleared, Pagosa had again cut
into the lead with a 15-13 quarter trimming the margin to 36-33 for
Manitou.

Spielman drilled a three to open the lead
back to six for Manitou in the early seconds of the fourth period.
Lori Walkup answered with a deuce for Pagosa and Shannon followed
suit, cutting the lead to two.

Then came the play, which seemed to be the
catalyst the Lady Pirates had been chasing.

Shannon Walkup drove the right side. A
Manitou player slipped to the floor in her path and leg whipped her.
A second Manitou defender, unable to stop her approach in time,
crashed into Walkup driving her into the bench.

The referee signaled a charging foul on
Walkup and the Pagosa crowd went wild.

Coach Bob Lynch drew his first technical as
varsity coach when he went onto the floor to protest the call.
Woloszyn went to the line and hit only one of three as Lynch talked
quietly to his team at the sideline, again trailing by three.

When action resumed, the Pirates were a
different team. Relentless attack, power drives, board sweeping,
tenacious defense suddenly became the modus operandi for the Lady
Pirates.

Shannon Walkup came back with the
in-your-face move of the game. She drove the middle, took one step to
her right, reversed to the left hand to leave a dazed Woloszyn
standing in disbelief as she spun 180 back to the right and sank a
smooth 8-foot jumper.

Lori Walkup stole the ball on the next
Manitou possession and drove the length of the court for a flying
left-handed layup and Pagosa had its first lead in the game at
44-43.

The rest was anticlimactic. Shannon Walkup
was sent to the line four times and hit three. Jewell added a pair of
charity tosses and Lori Walkup drilled three more deuces. Manitou's
final gasp was an offensive rebound putback by Devyn Cotrell with 42
seconds left.

Pagosa then ran out the clock and Manitou
had no ammunition left.

The unbelievable had happened for the young
Lady Pirate squad. Down once by 16, they had fought back with their
finest team performance of the season to take a 53-47 victory over a
team that may have become overconfident after building the huge early
leads.

But take nothing away from the Pagosa
performance.

They ran their offense to perfection,
patiently adjusting to the early barrage by Woloszyn, slowly working
their way back into contention, and frustrated the taller girls from
the Tri-Peaks League with a swarming defense which stopped all the
open shots that had been falling early in the contest.

It gave the Pagosa Ladies an example for
themselves to build on. They proved they can come back against a good
team, that they have more than one rocket in the launcher, and on a
given night any one of them may get the chance to light the
fire.

Coach Lynch kept preaching patience on
offense as the game wore on, apparently seeing something in the
Manitou manner that gave a hint of what could be done.

When he combined that by letting the defense
go to swarm mode, the Lady Mustangs ran out of Woloszyn
miracles.

And a drained Lynch commented, "Just call
'em the comeback kids. They refused to quit. They saw what they could
do and then did it. It was a great team, and I stress team, victory
for Pagosa."

Free throw shooting again was a problem for
Pagosa's Lady Pirates against La Junta's Lady Tigers in the Rye Girls
Classic Saturday afternoon, but unlike the opening day effort against
Rye, Pagosa could not overcome the deficit at the line.

They hit only 5 of 14 from the charity
stripe while sending La Junta shooters to the line 31 times where
they converted 19. That 12-point difference in freebies is close to
the final score differential, a 62-47 loss for Pagosa, ending a
four-game winning skein.

Lori Walkup scored three quick first-quarter
field goals for Pagosa but, saddled with early foul trouble, did not
score again until late in the fourth period when the game was out of
hand. Shannon Walkup also had a first-period field goal, but added
only one more, in the third quarter, before fouling out.

That put the Pagosa scoring load on
6-foot-2-inch center Caitlyn Jewell who was scoreless in the first
period but came on strong down the stretch to lead Pagosa with
18.

Bri Scott had one field goal in each of the
first three periods and added one of the rare free throw conversions
for seven points in the game.

By the half, Pagosa was down 31-20 and Jen
Stokes, the Lady Tigers' all-state candidate, already had 15 markers,
coming on three long treys, 4-for-4 shooting at the line and on
regular field goal. She would end the game with only one more field
goal, but added seven more from the line in a 24-point
performance.

With Jewell hitting for five points, Pagosa
outscored La Junta 12-10 in the third period to cut the lead to 41-32
and spark a flicker of hope in their fans' eyes.

Jewell tried her best to fan the flicker
into a flame with 8 fourth-period points, but Kerry Lewis answered
with 9 of her own for La Junta. She ended the game with 18.

Jewell's only scoring support in the period
came from Lori Walkup, Katie Bliss and freshman Caitlin Forrest, each
with a single field goal.

For the game, the Lady Tigers hit 25 of 50
for 50 percent and Pagosa a respectable 22 of 48 for 45.8 percent.
Pagosa outrebounded La Junta 21-15, had an 8-4 margin in steals, and
an 11-8 edge in assists. Those statistics point even harder at the
failures from the free throw line as the difference in the
game.

When you hit only five of 13 free throw
attempts in a game, you can expect to be in trouble.

That was the toll for the Pagosa Springs
Lady Pirates Friday in the opening round of the Rye Girls Classic
Tournament.

The host Lady Thunderbolts, however, were
unable to capitalize on the Pagosans' inability from the line, though
they stayed close for two quarters on their home court before falling
43-32 to the visitors.

In the end it was a balanced effort by
Pagosa, particularly on the defensive boards, that made the
difference in the game. The Lady Pirates had a 21-11 rebounding edge,
14 coming at the defensive end and keeping Rye from second shot
efforts.

While the Pirates shot just under 40 percent
for the game, hitting 19 of 48 efforts from the floor, Rye hit only
14 of 42, an exact third of their attempts.

Pagosa started fast, running out to a 10-2
lead in the first period, but Rye battled back led by four points
each by Della Guardia and M. Moroshin to trail only 12-10 after the
period.

They were offset by four points each by
Pagosa's Caitlyn Jewell and Lori Walkup and two each by Katie Bliss
and Shannon Walkup. Jewell, however, did not score again in the game
although she was a factor with seven rebounds, five at the defensive
end.

The relatively poor shooting by both teams
was probably more attributable to stout defense by both squads than
to poor effort. Lori Walkup, for example, short-circuited the
Thunderbolt attack with nine steals, more than the total for the
entire Rye team.

Pagosa outscored their hosts 9-5 in a slow
second quarter that featured field goals by Bri Scott, Lori Walkup
and freshman reserve guard Liza Kelly and single free throws by each
of the Walkups and Melissa Maberry. Rye's points in the period came
from Della Guardia, a trey, and Sarah Taylor who was Rye's top scorer
in the game with 12.

The 21-15 Pagosa lead at halftime was
amplified by a 15-4 surge in the third period. Included were four
points each by Scott, Maberry and Shannon Walkup and single field
goals from Mollie Honan and Lori Walkup. The Rye scores were, again,
one basket each by Della Guardia and Taylor.

With reserves in a mop-up role for Pagosa
for most of the fourth period, Rye fashioned a 13-7 margin in the
frame, nowhere near enough to wipe out the big Pagosa lead.

The Walkups each had a field goal in the
period and Bliss finished out the Pagosa scoring with her second
field goal. Taylor had six in the period for Rye, got a three-pointer
in support from Krysti Jackson, and four points by reserve Leah
Melby, coming off the bench.

The victory ran Pagosa's record to 5-1 for
the pre-league season, with two games remaining in the
tournament.

A pair of Pagosa Springs Lady Pirates earned
the votes of opposing coaches in the Rye Girls Classic last weekend
and were named to the all-tournament team.

The good news for their team is that each is
a part of the Pagosa super-sophs cadre and will have two more years
of competition.

Named to the elite squad were Lori Walkup
who had 41 points, 22 rebounds and 10 steals in the three games
played at Rye and Caitlyn Jewell, who recorded 29 points, had 19
rebounds and blocked three shots.

Pirates sweep three games at
Pueblo

extend first-of-season record
to 7-1

By John M. Motter

Staff Writer

Pagosa junior Ryan Gooden-berger was named
most valuable player for 1A-3A high schools competing in the Pueblo
Holiday Tournament this past weekend. Goodenberger was also named to
the all-tournament team for 1A-3A schools.

The Pirates captured their three games
during the Pueblo tournament to finish 2002 pre-league play with a
7-1 record. Pagosa has won six games in a row since losing to Buena
Vista in the championship match of the Buena Vista Tournament.

At Pueblo, the Pirates routed Rye 66-33
Friday night, beat St. Mary's 42-31 Saturday morning and followed
with a 65-39 romp over 5A Wasson's JV squad.

Goodenberger scored 16 points in the opener
against Rye, along with about a half dozen steals and a number of
assists. Everyone seemed a little sleepy against St. Mary's the next
morning, but Pagosa hung on for the low scoring win. The Saturday
afternoon encounter with Wasson's JVs was a total mismatch. Shaffer
played Pagosa JVs through most of the game.

Pagosa's next game is Jan. 11 when the
Pirates journey to Durango for a nonconference game with the 5A
Demons. The Durango game is at 11:30 a.m. on a Saturday. The
following Monday, Jan. 13, Pagosa hosts Aztec, N.M. Game time is 7
p.m. Four days later, on Friday, Jan. 17, Pagosa hosts Bloomfield,
N.M., at 7 p.m.

Following the Bloomfield game, Pagosa
launches the 2003 Intermountain League season hosting the Centauri
Falcons at 7:30 p.m.

Pagosa brings a winning tradition to the
table as 2003 League play starts. The Pirates tied with Monte Vista
for the IML championship last year, but lost the crown on the toss of
a coin. Pagosa won the IML championship outright during the 2000 and
2001 seasons. During both seasons, the Pirates advanced to the final
eight of Colorado 3A basketball.

Pagosa plays in the Intermountain League
with Ignacio, Bayfield, Centauri and Monte Vista. Unbeaten Ignacio
has the best record of any IML team this season. Close behind are
Pagosa Springs, Bayfield, and Centauri. Monte Vista seems to be
having a rare off-season, but they can never be counted out of
contention.

Ignacio finished strong by capturing the IML
post-season tournament last year. Almost everyone from that
hot-shooting Bobcat squad is back this year, hungry for a win against
Pagosa and hungry for a league championship. The IML title has
belonged to either Pagosa Springs or Monte Vista for almost as long
as anyone can remember.

Pagosa expects to be in the thick of the
chase. The Pirates are young, but they have four returning starters,
plenty of height, and the depth to run with anyone.

Brandon Charles is one of only two seniors
playing for Shaffer. An all-IML selection last year, Charles is
directing the Pirate attack for the second year in a row. He has
shown great patience in that role this year. He was an all-tournament
choice at the Wolf Creek Classic tournament. Charles can score in
bunches, but his primary task is guiding the Pagosa offense and
getting the ball inside to one of the three big men.

One of those big men is 6-foot-6-inch Jason
Schutz, the other Pagosa senior. Schutz was also an all-IML selection
from last year and can run the floor, post up, and block
shots.

Joining Schutz on the Pirate front line are
6-7 sophomore Caleb Forrest and 6-6 Clayton Spencer. Both were
starters last year and both can run, shoot and rebound. Both were
also All-tournament choices for the Wolf Creek Classic.

Rounding out the starting five for the
Pirates is the 6-1 Goodenberger, who played a lot of minutes last
year.

Not far behind the first five are a covey of
prospects from last year's championship junior varsity squad. In
fact, David Kern, a 5-9 junior, has started several games this year
for the Pirates. Kern plays either at guard or on the wing, and often
draws the defensive assignment against the other team's best
player.

Defense has been a major attribute of Pirate
play so far this season. During the current Pirate six-game winning
streak, the defense has allowed an average of only 35.7 points a
game. In addition to the reach of the big boys clogging the lane,
Charles, Goodenberger and others are very quick to harass opposing
ball handlers.

Goodenberger MVP at Pueblo
Tournament

Pirate Ryan Goodenberger was named most
valuable player for 1A-3A schools at the Pueblo Holiday Tournament
this past weekend. The Pirates defeated Rye, St. Mary's and Wasson JV
during the tournament.

Grapplers end tough first half
of season

return to the mats at Jan. 11
tournament

By Karl Isberg

Staff writer

Pirate wrestlers attended what many believe
is the toughest wrestling tournament of the year Friday and Saturday
- the Warrior Classic at Grand Junction - and fought against some of
the best teams and wrestlers in a four-state area.

"We got home early Sunday," said Coach Dan
Janowsky. "Earlier than I like."

The reason: no Pirates made it to the medal
round of competition. A few were close, but no one battled through to
the winners' platform. The team finished third from the bottom in the
overall standings.

"It was the same story," said the coach. "We
wrestled well; we wrestled competitively. We narrowly missed a couple
medals."

Pagosa's top performers were senior Mike
Maestas, at 125 pounds, and junior Kory Hart at 145.

Maestas has been solid throughout the early
season, seemingly intent on finishing his high school wrestling
career with a flourish. He won his first match over a wrestler from
Palisade, 9-3, before dropping to the consolation round with a loss
to a Delta athlete, 7-5. "He just ran out of gas in that match," said
Janowsky.

The junior came back in the consolation
round, pinning a man from Cortez in the first period and taking a
close 12-10 decision over Rifle. In his last match of the tourney,
Maestas lost an 8-5 heart breaker in double overtime to the eventual
fifth-place finisher from Grand Junction.

"Mike is wrestling better all the time,"
said his coach. "From the first week of competition to the third
week, he made some changes that have really helped him."

Hart dropped to 145 for the Warrior, closer
to his peak wrestling weight. He started the tournament by pinning a
wrestler from Paonia in the first period. He moved on to take a 6-3
decision from the fighter from Rocky Mountain.

Hart then suffered the first of two very
close losses by decision when he fell to the eventual tournament
champ from Alamosa, 6-5. "Kory suffered a pretty bad loss to an
Alamosa wrestler last year at our Rocky Mountain Tournament," said
the coach. "This year, the Alamosa coaches commented on how much he
has improved."

The Pirate dropped to the consolation round
and picked up a win over Montrose with a first-period pin. In his
last match of the day Saturday, Hart lost 7-6 to an athlete from
Grand Junction.

"Kory fell behind a little in that last
match," said Janowsky, "then made a nice comeback and just ran short
of time. He's made some real strides this year."

In other action for the Pirates, sophomore
Darren Hockett dropped his weight to 106 but it was not enough to
drop a weight class at the tournament. He went at 112 and lost in the
first round to Roosevelt. Hockett came back with a 6-1 decision over
a good wrestler from Delta than lost to a Moffat County competitor,
9-5. "This was a tough weight," Janowsky said.

Justin Bloomquist went at 130 for Pagosa,
going 1-2. Bloomquist beat an Alamosa wrestler 6-5, then dropped
matches to Montrose and Chaparral.

Cliff Hockett was 2-2 at 135. The senior
lost his first match to a wrestler from Moffat County then took a 6-3
win over an entrant from West Jordan, Utah. Following a win by
default, Hockett lost 6-5 to the eventual third-place finisher, Joe
Kelso of Monte Vista.

Pagosa's Aaron Hamilton entered the ring at
140. The junior was 1-2, with a 7-5 win over the man from Pueblo
Centennial and losses to Olathe and Grand Junction.

At 152, veteran Zeb Gill pinned his opponent
from Battle Mountain in the first period, then dropped matches to
Grandview and Rifle.

Matt Lattin had his first varsity start of
the season at 171. Lattin lost to wrestlers from Rocky Mountain and
Alamosa.

Marcus Rivas had two matches at the Warrior,
losing battles with athletes from Hotchkiss and Mullen.

Craig Lucero fought at 215, losing to Meeker
and Grand Junction.

"At least we know where we are," said
Janowsky. "There are a lot of other tournaments we could have gone to
and ended up feeling better about ourselves. But the feeling would
have been an illusion. We were third from the bottom at the Warrior,
with no medals, and that's an illusion too. We're better than that.
In my mind, we were close to medaling in four weights. But, the
reality is, close doesn't count. If we had some people back with the
team, we could have been close in five weights and it would have been
a very different story."

The key to a better second half of the
season and to a successful postseason is fairly simple: "We need to
get some people healed and back."

Junior Michael Martinez, a preseason bet to
place high in the state 3A ranks at 112 is still out with an injury.
Senior Jordan Kurt-Mason retired early from the Buena Vista tourney
Dec. 14 and was scheduled for testing of suspected asthma this week.
With the two veterans back in action, the Pirates would be guaranteed
to improve as a team.

Until then, the troops on hand will need to
rest over the holiday break, get back to the practice room at the
earliest possible date and keep plugging away, maintaining their
spirits, working hard for the wins.

"Confidencewise," said Janowsky, "we're
fine; healthwise, we're not. If these guys continue to believe in
themselves and trust in what they're doing, we'll be ready to make a
strong run by the end of the season.

The Pirates are off until they host the
annual Rocky Mountain Tournament Jan. 11. This year's field at the
Rocky is as tough as ever and should provide the Pirates with a
springboard to success in the remainder of the schedule.

Inside The
Sun

County officials will be sworn
in; commissioners will reorganize Jan. 14

By John M. Motter

Staff Writer

The next regular meeting of the Archuleta County commissioners is
Jan. 7, 2003, just one week before county officials elected last
November will be sworn in to start four-year terms of office.

One official, Travis Garrett, the county treasurer, will be sworn
in Jan. 2 at 8:15 a.m. in the courtroom at the courthouse. Garrett
will take the oath of office as administered by Archuleta County
Judge James Denvir. County treasurers are sworn into office early so
they will be on hand to sign warrants and take care of other
financial matters.

Jan. 14, prior to the regular 9 a.m. commissioner meeting,
District Court Judge Greg Lyman will swear in the remainder of
newly-elected county officials.

The only newly-elected official is in District 3 where Mamie Lynch
succeeded in unseating Gene Crabtree as county commissioner. As a
Democrat, Lynch is the only member of that party holding office in
Archuleta County.

Following the swearing in of Lynch, the three-member board of
county commissioners will reorganize, with a chairman and vice
chairman of the board elected. Lynch will join Bill Downey and Alden
Ecker on the board. Both Downey and Ecker are at the midpoint of
their first elected terms in office. Downey served as chairman of the
board this past year. Ecker served as vice chairman of the board this
past year.

Downey has served as commissioner longer than Ecker because he was
appointed to complete the unexpired term of former commissioner Bill
Tallon, who resigned when he moved to Arizona. After completing
Tallon's term, Downey was elected to a four-year term of his own.

Commissioners in Archuleta County can serve only two consecutive
terms because of term limits. Term limits have been removed from
other elected offices.

In addition to the oaths of office and other swearing-in
ceremonies, a number of additional, beginning-of-the year actions
will be taken. Most of these involve authorizations in connection
with the handling of money and appointments to serve on various
boards.

County commissioner regular meetings are conducted each Tuesday at
9 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting room located in the county
courthouse. State law mandates that agendas for regular meetings be
posted at least 24-hours prior to the meetings. The agenda for the
regular commissioner meeting is normally available to the public by 1
p.m. the Friday before the meeting.

Boards appointed by the county commissioners are required to
comply with the same open meeting rules. County appointments staff a
number of boards.

County drug and alcohol testing
policy renewed

John M. Motter

Staff writer

An Archuleta County policy requiring public transportation
employees to take drug/alcohol tests was renewed at the regular
meeting of county commissioners held Dec. 17.

The policy, generally written by the Federal Transit Authority,
applies to employee positions identified as "safety-sensitive"
positions. In this specific incidence, the policy concerns employees
of the county-operated transit system.

Safety-sensitive positions require passing a drug test as a
condition of employment. If the test is cancelled the applicant must
retake and pass a drug test before performing safety-sensitive
duties.

All applicants or individuals being transferred or hired into
safety-sensitive positions must be given a pre-employment drug test.
Employees may be hired but may not perform safety-sensitive functions
until the county receives a negative drug test.

The county must investigate the past two years of employment
history regarding positive drug and alcohol testing for each new
employee.

A new pre-employment test must be performed if an employee has not
performed a safety sensitive function in 90 days.

Any safety-sensitive employee who exhibits reasonable suspicion of
using a prohibited drug or who has misused alcohol must be tested.

The decision to require reasonable suspicion testing must be based
on specific, contemporaneous, articulable observations concerning the
appearance, behavior, speech or body odor of the safety sensitive
employee. Observations leading to the decision to require a
reasonable suspicion test should be documented and maintained by a
supervisor.

Only a trained supervisor may make reasonable suspicion testing
referrals. Reasonable suspicion testing is required when one trained
supervisor can articulate and substantiate physical, behavioral, and
performance indicators of probable drug use or alcohol misuse by
observing the appearance, behavior, speech or body odor of the
covered employee. Supervisors who make reasonable suspicion
determinations shall receive at least an hour of training on the
physical, behavioral, speech and performance indicators of probable
alcohol misuse.

Any employee suspected of drug or alcohol consumption will not be
allowed to perform safety sensitive duties. The supervisor or a
designated county employee will escort the employee to a testing site
immediately.

The supervisor making the decision to conduct a reasonable
suspicion test may not be the breath alcohol tester or screening test
technician for that test.

All covered employees will receive at least an hour of training on
the effects and consequences of prohibited drug use and personal
health, safety, and the work environment, and the signs and symptoms
that may indicate prohibited drug use.

Post accident drug and alcohol testing is mandatory in the
following situations:

- Whenever there is loss of human life all safety-sensitive
employees involved in the accident must be tested. Any covered
employee whose performance could have contributed to the accident
must be tested.

- Whenever any individual involved in the accident must be
transported away from the scene for immediate medical treatment as a
result of the accident. All safety-sensitive employees must be tested
unless their behavior can be completely discounted as a contributing
factor to the accident. Additionally, any safety-sensitive employee
not directly involved in the accident, but whose performance could
have contributed to the accident as determined by the employer shall
be tested.

- Whenever one or more vehicles incur disabling damage as a result
of the accident, which requires transportation from the scene by a
tow truck or other vehicle, or in the case where the mass transit
vehicle is a rail vehicle or vessel and is removed from service.

- If an employee can immediately be discounted, based on the best
information available at the time of the decision, as a contributing
factor in a nonfatal accident, they do not have to be tested, but the
reason for discounting the employee must be documented.

Federal Transit Authority regulations require random drug and
alcohol testing of all safety-sensitive employees. There is no
discretion on the part of the county in the selection and
notification of individuals for testing. The random testing program
must annually complete tests equivalent to 50 percent of the number
of covered employees for drug testing, and 10 percent of the number
of covered employees for alcohol testing, subject to annual review
and revision.

Random tests are unannounced and immediate. An employee notified
of a test must go to the test site immediately.

Testing occurs at least quarterly. Testing starts in January and
is spread throughout the year. It may be conducted on any day during
which transit activities are underway.

Refusal to take a drug test will result in the same conclusion as
a positive test.

Mountain lion report sends
gradeschoolers into building

By Tess Noel Baker

Staff Writer

A report of a mountain lion sighted near the Pagosa Springs
Elementary School sent children inside a little early on Dec. 12.

Mike Reid, of the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said an
individual reported seeing the lion at about 10th and Piedra streets
near the southeast corner of the elementary school soccer fields. The
call came in between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m.

Reid, with the assistance of the Pagosa Springs Police Department,
searched the area. No mountain lion was found, and no more sightings
had been reported as of 8 a.m. Dec. 18.

Elementary school principal Kahle Charles said once the Division
of Wildlife call was confirmed, the teachers' aides outside with the
children brought everyone inside. Children arriving on buses were
also pulled indoors. The "all clear" call came in prior to morning
recesses and children were allowed outside at that point, Charles
said.

Reid said a small herd of deer were in the area at the time and
could have been what the lion was following. Although mountain lions
are around, people who actually spot them are quite lucky, he added.
Generally, the large cats shy away from populated areas.

Early 2002 events hinted at
problems ahead

By Richard Walter

Staff Writer

The new year dawned for SUN readers on Jan. 3 with a report that
forewarned things to come later in the year when drought would take
over.

That item had Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District announcing
it was searching for funding for $18.1 million in capital
improvements it saw as needed to provide services for the next 20
years.

The same issue reported the county studying creation of a new unit
to handle the "stray dog" problem, an issue still on the minds of
residents today, almost a full year later.

And, the sheriff's office announced the beginning of a program
that would let the public grade the department's performance.

As the month proceeded, the water and sanitation district stayed
on the front page Jan. 10, this time delaying plans to implement a
controversial capital improvements fee.

The delay came after a group of builders, developers and Realtors
protested the size of the proposed levy and charged it appeared to
extend growth costs against the building industry.

The same issue announced the possibility of traffic signals being
installed at U.S. 160 and Pinon Causeway, a prediction now a reality
and drawing letters of protest from area drivers who say they did not
know of the plans and were given no chance to oppose the
installation.

The following edition kept water and sanitation on the front page
with the district announcing plans to submit a $10 million bond issue
to voters.

The same issue had the hospital district borrowing money to meet
January payroll and the tale of four lucky North Carolinians who
walked away from the scene after their twin engine plane crashed in
Alpha Subdivision shortly after takeoff from Stevens Field.

By Jan. 24, the water and sanitation district issue was inside the
newspaper and county commissioners grabbed the main headline with
discussion of a $12-13 million new county administration building.
Commissioner Gene Crabtree listed the project as "a top priority."

The final edition of the year's first month showed photos of
overturned vehicles, highlighting dangerous conditions brought on by
a winter storm; announced plans for a 304-home commercial-residential
development to be known as Mountain Crossing, at U.S. 160 and U.S.
84; and revealed a firm drilling new gas wells near Arboles was doing
so without county permits.

February

PAWS was back on the front page, setting a public hearing for
proposed fee restructuring in the Feb. 7 issue which also pictured
69-year-old Joe Donavan running with glee in the Olympic Torch Relay
to Salt Lake City and opened a three-part series on students bracing
for new mandated testing by both the state and federal governments.

The Valentine's Day issue revealed the school board had given the
go-ahead to the first phase of rehabilitation of the Golden Peaks
sports stadium to include a full track facility and a concession and
restroom structure.

The same issue had the Town of Pagosa Springs announcing plans to
put sanitation district issues on the ballot for the second time.
Since 1996 it had been managing Pagosa Springs Sanitation District.
Voters in November 2000 had agreed with a plan to dissolve the
nonexistent district but refused to transfer its debt to the town,
which already was accountable for it. The vote was planned to correct
the inequity.

By Feb. 21 the well-drilling story was getting a new image. A
proliferation of oil and gas wells, perhaps as many as 300, was
forecast for the HD Mountains in the northern portion of the county,
even as the controversy continued over drilling of unlicensed wells
in the Arboles area.

The same edition reported a citizen tip led to breaking up a
construction site theft ring.

The well drilling controversy stayed front page news the following
week when The SUN reported a meeting of county planning officials
with representatives of two drilling companies in an effort to work
out differences. An upshot of that session was announcement of a
county proposal to develop "more friendly" county gas and oil
regulations.

The same issue reported the new manager of San Juan Regional
Hospital District was initiating an employee manual review, noting
there were several different versions extant and no one knew which,
if any of them was the correct one.

March

The month opened with reports that the town had approved an
agreement with the state for the reconstruction of U.S. 160 through
the community with attendant traffic signal and pedestrian walkway
additions and improvements.

The March 14 issue reprised plans for a new county building as
county commissioners voted 2-1 to advertise for bids for
architectural plans for the proposed new structure. Board chairman
Bill Downey's was the opposing vote.

The same issue set the scene for what was to come, when the
National Resources Conservation Service reported area snowpack was 30
percent of normal and there was little hope for late season moisture
to correct the problem.

A fire operations plan in reaction to continuing drought led
reports March 31 as area agencies responsible for meeting the threat
coordinated efforts and established standard mutual operating
procedures designed to insure the safety of the public.

At the same time, the hospital district reported earnings were now
matching debt and revenues matching expenses but there was a problem
of cash flow with bills waiting to be paid totaling in excess of
$77,000.

An accident on Wolf Creek Pass, which dumped a load of tractors
into the roadway, was pictured in a March 28 edition in which the top
story was the possibility of an out-of-court settlement of an ongoing
sales tax dispute between the town and county.

April

With spring lurking in the ensuing days April opened with Pagosa
Springs Mayor Ross Aragon coasting to victory and a seventh term in
office and fires in the Allison area and at Hidden Valley Ranch on
Four Mile Road signaling the infernos that were to be predicted and
to arrive during a dry summer ahead.

At the same time, PAWS sneaked back onto the front page by
approving a fee structure linked to growth as part of a 20-year plan;
and a Pagosa businessman and investment broker was accused of
stealing $161,000 from the Durango office of the company he
represented, the funds being those on deposit for the scholarship
trust fund maintained for Pagosa Springs Rotary Club.

By April 11, oil and gas rules were back in the news, having been
tabled by the county after irate citizens, at a public hearing,
demanded an enforcer.

A countywide fire ban was continued and two Chromo area blazes
doused before they got out of control. At the same time, volunteer
water rationing was urged as supplies dwindled and the water and
sanitation district began thinking about use restrictions.

Cuts looming as hospital district board's red ink deepens, The SUN
reported April 18. That was based on an auditor's report to the
district that it needed to pare $200,000 from its budget, just to
break even.

Still on the front page was oil and gas drilling as proposed new
regulations were tabled because commissioners "didn't have time to
read them" before the scheduled vote.

The same issue reported the beginning of all-night closures in the
tunnel construction zone on Wolf Creek Pass and the state recognition
of Pagosa Springs High School junior Brandon Rosgen who won 11 top
awards in the state science fair.

The water level decline got continually worse during the month and
water providers warned, again, that use restrictions probably lay
ahead. Linked to the drought was a report from Warren Grams, chief of
Pagosa Fire Protection District, that "We're prime for a big fire
this year," as high risk areas got drier and drier.

May

May dawned with the county approving a dog control code, with no
licensing, and the fire protection district drawing support for a
planned $2.8 million bond issue it would submit to voters.

The May 9 issue carried good news for both the fire district and
the water and sanitation district as voters had approved bond issues
for each district by substantial margins and Kay Grams was elected to
the hospital district board with 560 votes.

The threat was finally realized when the May 16 issue announced
water rationing would begin June 1 as supplies continually dropped.

The same issue detailed an accident in which an armored truck
overturned on U.S. 160 near Aspen Springs "dumping plastic bags of
bills and coins everywhere."

The drought was upgraded from severe to extreme according to The
SUN of May 23 by a collection of federal agencies responsible for
maintaining a U.S. Drought Monitor. In conjunction with that action,
the U.S. Forest Service banned open fires on all public lands.

The same topics dominated the following week's issue, with new
fires gobbling up campground areas and mandatory water rationing to
begin two days later.

June

The first edition of June, issued on the 6th, carried sad news.

Two old-line county families were shocked when patriarchs died as
a result of separate ATV accidents. H. Ray Macht and Lloyd Clark Jr.
were the victims.

In the same issue we reported a total fireworks ban enacted for
the county, a drought status hiked to "exceptional" and human sources
likely causes in a rash of fires in the county, many apparently
traced to discarded cigarettes.

And, Olympic gold was represented as David O'Connor, winner of the
2000 Olympics title in Eventing Horsemanship, brought his skills to
Parelli International Study Center where he worked with Parelli
students.

Drought, drought and more drought forced area residents to be
placed on evacuation alert in the lead story for June 13 as fire
danger in the area was unabated and water district directors wondered
if their restriction measures would be enough.

The same issue showed the bell being installed in the tower at 5th
and San Juan streets where the old Town Hall had been razed, and told
of a Pagosa man and his bank being bilked of $26,000 by a
Nigeria-originated scheme.

The U.S. 160 reconstruction project began in time for the issue of
June 20, and wildfires raged at Missionary Ridge along Vallecito Lake
and at South Fork as county residents braced, again, for possible
evacuation if flames were to spread. Total closure to public use was
ordered for most National Forest lands between Pagosa Springs and
Bayfield; July 4 fireworks displays were canceled; and apprehension
about danger led to an overload of 911 emergency lines.

The first half of the year was ended with the June 27 issue which
reported water level rationing increased with outdoor irrigation
limited to four hours, once a week, on a designated day determined by
street address.

Firefighters continued to douse minor blazes in the area as the
major burns continued to hold just outside the county line, but one
arrest for arson was made in Archuleta County. A photo showed the San
Juan River resembling a nearly dry rocky creek.

Letters

Values

Dear Editor:

Last evening our family went to see the movie "Bowling for
Columbine" at the Abby Theater in Durango. It is well worth a trip to
the theater or renting the movie. For sure it is not a Christmas
movie but is very thought provocative as we enter the season of
"Peace on Earth, Good Will to All." "Bowling for Columbine" deals
with violence in the United States, and contrasts it with violence in
other developed countries.

In this Holy Day season it would be good to look into our personal
as well as our national lives. Do we treat people fairly and kindly?
What are our fears? Is it our neighbors, a stranger, someone of
another race or religion? Do we try to bring harmony or do we try to
exercise power over others? How do we bring God's love into this
world?

Do our national policies reflect our personal values? Is Star Wars
more important than universal health care? Canada and other developed
countries have an extremely low gun violence rate and valuable,
accessible national health insurance. The United States has the
highest murder rate in the developed world and a huge and growing
defense budget: $10 billion for Star Wars per year was just announced
last week. Not to mention a possible war with Iraq, and massive
military support of everyone from Israel to South Korea. What about
affordable, accessible heath care?

What are our values? Maybe it would be cheaper and far more
productive to share our wealth than defend our wealth.

This is something to think about. God bless our troubled world
this Holy Day season.

Raymond P. Finney

Always for kids

Dear Editor:

Ron and I were so glad to learn that Hank Rivas won first prize in
the holiday lighting contest. He gets an idea and then starts
creating, always for the kids.

The work is done by his hands. This year he has a castle, a train
and Santa taking off by rocket fire. Such fun - so go by after dark
and be sure to take kids and a camera.

The entire area south of the library and around the high school is
just beautiful. Thanks to all of you for your gifts to us.

Cindy Gustafson

AmeriCorps

Dear Editor:

I proudly served my country in AmeriCorps, a national service
movement that engages Americans of all backgrounds in intense
community service - AmeriCorps the "domestic Peace Corps."

I am writing this letter to call attention to the incredible work
that is being done by AmeriCorps volunteers throughout Southwest
Colorado. Each year, roughly 50,000 people join AmeriCorps to help
strengthen communities and improve people's lives. I am writing to
share my AmeriCorps experience with the hope that more members of our
community will seek out opportunities to volunteer.

My AmeriCorps program helped to connect nonprofit agencies to
volunteers in Southwest Colorado through an on-line database system
called volunteer central, http://www.volcentral.org. I also helped
Colorado Housing Inc. and other low-income housing programs to build
an education program to educate the community on the importance of
affordable housing. As an AmeriCorps member I made connections
pertinent to the creation of a healthier community.

During my service as a VISTA (Volunteer In Service To America) I
was able to participate in the La Plata County Community Summit.
Operation Healthy Communities held this summit to talk about major
community issues that need solutions. I put together community
resource tables, including services currently working on solutions,
that encircled the room where 300 community members gathered to try
to hammer out issues like affordable housing, livable wages,
affordable healthcare, youth, education and open space.

Being a VISTA in AmeriCorps has influenced my life by helping me
to decide to serve my community for a lifetime. I know the value of
volunteerism and how it actually brings out community in everyone.

In his radio address this holiday season, the president called for
Americans to volunteer in their communities. He also called for an
expansion of national service programs like AmeriCorps. I hope we
will all encourage Congress to increase service opportunities and
expand successful programs like AmeriCorps. If you are looking for a
way to serve, one place you can start is at www.freedomcorps.gov.

Julie Jessen

VISTA, 2000-2001

Budget fix

Dear Editor:

While most programs throughout the state are experiencing the
sting of having to reduce their budgets by up to 6 percent, Gov.
Owens is proposing to take a whopping 50 percent of tobacco
settlement funds away from tobacco prevention programs to temporarily
"cure" our ailing budget.

These science-based programs, following Center for Disease Control
best practice principals, were created to counteract the devastating
effects of tobacco addiction-the leading cause of preventable death
and disease in Colorado that costs the state over one billion dollars
in related health care costs. Most people are surprised to hear that
only a fraction of tobacco settlement dollars, won by the states in
1998 to help defray the health-related costs of tobacco, are actually
used for education and prevention efforts. In fact, of the $375
million Colorado has received, 37 percent has already been used to
fill budget shortfalls.

Local programs are working. Youth are hard pressed to find a
retailer who will sell to them and consequently the number of young
smokers has decreased. More adults are successfully giving up
cigarettes, thanks in part to the Colorado Quitline, (800) 639-7848,
and Quitnet, co.quitnet.com. Secondhand smoke has been significantly
reduced in our environment, improving the health of our most
vulnerable citizens, the very young and the elderly.

Let's keep these programs in place using tobacco settlement
dollars as originally intended. Using these funds as a short-term
budget fix is counterproductive and poor fiscal policy.

Sincerely,

Lauren Patterson

Durango

'Tis the season

Dear Editor:

'Tis the season, and for whatever the reason we suggest you take
one evening of your busy schedules, after dark, ride around our
beautiful Pagosa Springs, and enjoy what all our folks, both
residents and businesses, have done to make our community look
absolutely beautiful. The work and time spent on the decorations
displayed this year truly tell the story of what is in our hearts.

We have noticed the efforts of our community have improved, more
residents are getting involved in making this season a joyous one. Of
course we still remember the reason for the joy in our hearts and
minds. It was the birth of our savior, thanks to God for his son. He
was born for our salvation.

We, together with all of you, give thanks for our sons, daughters,
grandchildren, brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents and the
many, many friends and neighbors. God bless us all and peace be on
earth.

Merry Christmas and have a joyous New Year.

Dawnie and Joe Silva

Community
News

Senior News

Walk your way to health at
senior center

By Janet Copeland

SUN Columnist

The Christmas season is my very favorite time of the year - when
we honor the birthday of Jesus, as well as honor our relatives and
friends by letting them know how much they mean to us.

I consider our friends here in Pagosa as part of our "family" and
I wish you all the very best of health and happiness for Christmas
and the coming year!

We really enjoyed last Tuesday's presentation of Christmas songs
by the children from Seeds of Learning. They gave our spirits a boost
and helped us appreciate this wonderful season.

Thanks to the 4-H kids for serving us our delicious Christmas meal
and to the kitchen staff for preparing it. We had a great party and
gift exchange, and enjoyed seeing everyone dressed in his or her
colorful Christmas finery.

Beginning at 10 a.m. Jan. 6, there will be a new program available
to folks - the Colorado on the Move Walking Program.

This is a fun and easy program that can help you increase your
levels of physical activity and enjoy many benefits of better health
without changing much of what you do every day. This program is open
to all ages, with emphasis on folks 55 and over.

The multipurpose room in the Community Center will normally be
available for this program from 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and
Friday. Join us at the senior center for our kick off on Jan. 6. We
will begin with a short presentation and sign-up, and we'll issue
pedometers and water bottles, courtesy of the Pagosa Springs
Welcoming Service. Pedometers will be issued to participants to help
count their steps, and those who complete the 14-week program will be
allowed to keep their pedometers (as long as our supply lasts).

Special thanks to the following people and organizations for their
donations to the Senior Center: Rich Harris and Frank Goodman for
magazines; Kathy McCulloch for large-print magazines and puzzles;
Dick Akin for computer software; Mariann Barber for cards; Vance and
Debbie Newell for the turkey; the Education Center for turkey
decorations for our shut-ins; Dennis Schutz and the Forest Service
for Christmas trees; ANCO Insurance, John Porter, and an anonymous
donor for tickets to the Kiwanis Chili Supper; and the Unitarians for
the holiday centerpieces.

A service called "Benefits Check Up" is being offered by the
National Council on Aging for seniors over 55.

It is a Web-based service that allows older Americans, their
families and caregivers to quickly and easily determine what benefits
they qualify for and how to claim them. It checks for financial
assistance, health care programs, prescription drug assistance,
housing assistance, property tax programs, home energy assistance,
in-home services, legal services, nutrition programs, training
opportunities, volunteer opportunities, and educational programs.

This service is confidential and free. You can access this
information on the Internet by going to www.benefitscheckup.org or
you can contact Musetta at the Silver Foxes Den Senior Center (call
264-2167) to obtain a printed copy of the questionnaire and
assistance in entering the information into the computer.

A big welcome to Louie Baca (from Santa Fe), to Al and John Samit
who visited with us Monday, and to Donelia Mullis (from Utah) who
joined us Tuesday - we hope they will join us again soon.

Congratulations to Jim Corcoran, who is our Senior of the Week.

Musetta needs more volunteers for January's calendar. Please
contact her at 264-2167 if you can donate a few hours.

Thanks to Judy Cramer for her presentation of Memories from the
Past - pertaining to how her family used Christmas stockings.

We enjoyed hearing from Marion Swanson, one of our seniors who
moved to Canon City. She is surely missed.

The transportation department has a new table for trip sign-ups,
just outside Cindy's office, for the specific use of arranging trips
and accounting for people. This new system should help the department
run more efficiently and allow users to have a specific contact
person when they need more information. Call Cindy at 264-6371 for
more information.

Remember Dec. 27 is our Spirit Day. Show you are proud of being a
Silver Fox and wear your T-shirt that day.

The Friendly Visitor Program has been initiated at our senior
center. We need several more volunteers who are looking for someone
to share stories or just pass a little time with. If it is difficult
for you to leave your home due to a disability, this may be just the
program for you. Call 264-2167 for more information.

I would like to wish all my veterans and their families a very
merry Christmas and happy holidays.

I am frequently asked about benefits for surviving families of
deceased veterans. There are several VA programs for survivor
benefits, depending on the veteran's service and in some cases how he
or she died.

The first one I want to discuss is perhaps the easiest survivor
pension benefit a surviving spouse can qualify for: It is a death
pension for surviving spouse and children. There are several
eligibility requirements, some for the veteran and some for the
spouse. Dependent children basically would need to under age 18 and
still under the dependent care of the surviving spouse.

Eligibility

A VA Death Pension is a benefit paid to eligible dependents of
deceased wartime veterans. Definition of a wartime veteran is any
veteran that served at least two years of honorable active duty
during a recognized United States period of wartime, but whose death
in such service was not in line of duty.

Eligible dependents may qualify for a Death Pension if they and
the veteran meet all of the following criteria:

1. The deceased veteran was discharged from service under other
than dishonorable conditions; and

2. He or she served 90 days or more of active duty with at least
one day during a war; and

3. The dependent is the surviving spouse or unmarried child of the
deceased veteran;

4. The dependent's countable income is below an annual limit set
by law. This amount as of Dec. 1, 2001 is $6,407 annual income for
spouse alone. For spouse and one dependent child the amount is
$8,389. There are other higher income limits if the spouse is a
patient in a nursing home or helpless and blind, requiring aid and
attendance of another person. For each additional dependent child you
can add $1,630. These rates are usually adjusted each year by law,
similar to Social Security increases.

Marriage requirements

Additionally, there are some requirements regarding marriage to a
veteran. For instance, a spouse who just recently married a World War
II veteran would not be eligible. In most cases, the spouse must have
been married to the veteran within about 10-12 years of the ending of
the wartime conflict. There are very specific dates and information
in this regard that I have available at the office.

Survivors and dependent income information will need to be
submitted annually to continue receiving the benefit.

This is just a broad overview of VA survivor Death Pension
benefit. There are many additional details that must be considered. I
have all the application forms and information on hand at this office
and will be happy to assist any veteran's survivors to apply for this
benefit.

For information on these and other veterans' benefits please call
or stop by the Veterans Service Office located on the lower floor of
the Archuleta County Courthouse. The office number is 264-2304, the
fax number is 264-5949 and e-mail is afautheree@archuletacounty.org.
The office is open 8 to 4, Monday through Thursday, Friday by
appointment. Bring your DD Form 214 (Discharge) for registration with
the county, application for VA programs, and for filing in the VSO
office.

Chamber News

Recruiting calls from kiosk
owners trouble some Chamber members

By Doug Trowbridge

The peace of the season has settled over the
Chamber and Sally has flown off to spend the holiday with her family.

Snow blankets the mountains with more on the
way. Our members have graciously lavished upon us myriad plates of
cookies, canisters of popcorn and boxes of chocolates. Ahhhh Š life
is good. But the Chamber still has business to attend to, so I'll put
aside my plate of goodies and glass of eggnog for just a moment to
share what's happening.

Kiosk confusion

It has come to our attention that the folks
who operate the information kiosk are being a little too aggressive
in their efforts to recruit new advertisers and misrepresenting
themselves along the way. For those who are unaware, the information
kiosk is a touch screen computer in front of the Chamber that offers
after-hour visitors a chance to get information on Pagosa even when
the Chamber is closed.

Signature Multimedia, the company that
operates the kiosk, is in the midst of an advertising recruitment
push here in Pagosa Springs. We have received a few calls from
members regarding their activities. The biggest problem is their
propensity to claim that they are calling from the Pagosa Springs
Chamber of Commerce. Rest assured that there are only three employees
at your Chamber: Sally, Morna and Doug. If you get a call from anyone
else claiming that they are with the Chamber, please get their name
and company, and then inform us as soon as possible.

Their recruiters also seem to have a hard
time taking "No" for an answer. Several members have called to say
that they have been contacted three or four times asking them to
advertise on the kiosk. This is unacceptable to us and we would like
you to let us know if you too are dealing with this situation.

The concept of the information kiosk is
good. Providing our late arriving visitors with information about the
town can be extremely helpful to them. However, the Chamber does not
want the kiosk to become a thorn in our memberships' side. We do
nothing more than provide a space for the kiosk at the Visitors
Center. The decision to advertise on the kiosk is yours alone.

We are not in the business of promoting the
kiosk and have nothing to do with the advertising other than offering
the opportunity to our membership. If you are having problems with
the kiosk representatives, or feel that they have offered misleading
statements about who they are or what they are offering, please let
the Chamber know. We have already contacted them regarding these
problems and will be more than happy to let them know how we feel if
the problems persist.

Mardi Gras party

On a lighter note, the fourth annual Mardi
Gras Party and membership meeting will be held Jan. 18 at the Pagosa
Lodge.

Mark your calendars for this entertaining
evening of festive food, glitzy garb and raucous revelry (isn't
alliteration fun?). The festivities get underway at 6 p.m. with food,
friends and a cash bar. Free beads and masks are available, but we
encourage everyone to put on their Mardi Gras finery. Prizes are
awarded for the best male and female costumes, so don't be shy.

At 7:30, we get the business part of the
night rolling with awards, a recap of the Chamber's work over the
last year and a sad farewell to our departing board directors. Which
reminds me, this is also your last chance for Chamber members to vote
for the new directors. So plan to join us for some good times as we
get the New Year off on the right foot!

Citizen/Volunteer Awards

Please remember to submit your nomination
for Citizen and Volunteer of the Year to the Visitor Center by the
Dec. 31 deadline. We have forms available to you here, so don't let
that hold you up. Both of these awards deserve careful consideration,
and we hope you will do what you can to see that worthy folks receive
the credit they so richly deserve.

Board candidates

You also need to remember to cast your votes
for three of the six candidates running for Chamber board director,
especially if you cannot attend the annual Mardi Gras Jan.18. The
nine directors act collectively as the governing body for your
Chamber of Commerce and act as your voice in all matters Chamber, so
getting to know them through their profiles and conversations is ever
so important. In any election, it is imperative to exercise your
right to vote, and this one is no exception. Please drop in at the
Visitor Center to register your vote or give Doug a call at 264-2360
with any questions.

New Year's Eve dance

The Knights of Columbus invite you to attend
their New Year's Eve dance at the Pagosa Lakes Property Owners
Clubhouse to benefit the David C. Mitchell Scholarship Fund. Tickets
for this event can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce in advance
for $10 per person or $18 for couples. All tickets at the door will
be $12, and the fun begins at 8:30 p.m. Country Feedback will provide
the music, and party favors, snacks and champagne will be
provided.

Membership

Only three renewals this week, but we are
pleased to keep them in the Chamber family.

We start off with Mercy Korsgren and the
Pagosa Springs Community Center. We are fortunate to have a facility
like the Community Center and our hats are off to Mercy for
everything she does to coordinate everything that goes on there.

Next up is Kenny King with King Capital Inc.
Kenny offers property management services here in Pagosa. Finally, we
have Jeff Schmidt with Schmidt Chiropractic Massage and Acupuncture,
LLC. Jeff offers chiropractic massage, craniosacral therapy,
acupuncture, pediatrics and herbal remedies.

While three renewals may not seem like much,
each of our members is important and we are glad to have them
rejoining us. We could never have over 800 members without you.
Thanks.

The Colorado Talking Book Library is a gift
to anyone who cannot read the printed page.

If you know someone who is visually
handicapped due to any kind of physical problem, we can get him or
her a special recorder and almost any book he or she might want to
hear. This free program is provided by the Library of
Congress.

Once a person signs up, he or she receives a
monthly catalog with the list of books that can be borrowed free of
charge. These come through the mail in a special box. Once the person
has heard the book, he or she returns it free-of-charge in the mail.
A person with sight problems, or any physical ailment that keeps them
from being able to hold a book to read, is eligible.

The equipment and the books on tape are all
free. I cannot think of a better gift than giving back some joy of
reading by hearing the words spoken.

Let us help put you in touch with the
Colorado Talking Book Program.

Another service they offer is the "Audio
Yellow Pages." Now a person can gain access to over 10 million
businesses by dialing one toll-free number 24 hours a day. If you
would like instructions for this service, call the library at
264-2209. This is a free voice-activated service for the blind and
visually impaired.

New library card

This is truly a gift because it gives you so
much.

Some folks grumble because a library card is
viewed as just one more piece of plastic to carry in the wallet. But
it is much more than that: It is your passport to the world of
information. It will soon be your entry into a number of databanks
that will be free to you, while most people will pay dearly to get
into the sites. You will be able to download and print out material
for your use.

Currently, with your card, you can search
our collection from home and renew books, and place holds on items
you want. As Becky learns more about the specifics of the system, we
will be able to give you more options. We want to keep the small-town
feeling of personal service, while giving you sophisticated new
access to a wealth of information.

Treat yourself to this special gift and come
in a get your free passport to the world - your new library
card.

The urgency of memory

Bruce Cole, Chairman of the National
Endowment for the Humanities warns us of the dangers of cultural
amnesia. He reminds us that "one of the common threads of great
civilizations is the cultivation of memory, Lincoln's mystic chords
of memory, stretching from battlefield and patriot grave to every
living heart and hearthstone all over this great land."

Cole is afraid we are in danger of
forgetting this lesson. Many Americans do not know their history, and
cannot remember even the most significant events of the 20th
Century.

"One study of students at 55 elite
universities found that over a third were unable to identify the
Constitution as establishing the division of powers in our
government. Forty percent could not place the Civil War in the
correct half-century. Half of high school seniors could not say whom
we fought in World War Two. And two thirds of all Americans think
Karl Marx's dogma, 'From each according to his ability, to each
according to his needs' was or may have been written by the founding
fathers and is included in the constitution."

President Bush and the NEH are launching a
new initiative to bolster the study and understanding of American
history. Cole reminds us, "Understanding ourselves is the first step
to understanding our place in the world Š In this age of uncertainty,
we can give each succeeding generation a brighter light, a broader
perspective, and an enriched legacy with which to face the future."

Give your family the gift of history by
using your public library's collection of excellent materials to help
instill that understanding of our legacy.

This is sponsored by the National Science
Foundation and you will find any topic about the earth here. It is
set up for the general public as well as the professional and all
grade levels from kindergarten through the master's level.

There are so many subjects; you could spend
all day learning about our beautiful planet. A few of the areas
covered include biology, ecology, physics, chemistry, climate and
geology. It is a community-centered resource for anyone interested in
these subjects.

Thank you

I want to personally thank the great library
staff and volunteers for their work this past year. Getting our
on-line system up and running has been a challenge. Special thanks to
Shirley Iverson, Becky Porco, Nancy Cole, Barb Draper and Ann Van
Fossen for hanging in there through the many difficult
changes.

Happy holidays

Because we have to get this article in
early, I will tell you the library will close at noon Christmas Eve,
and will be closed Christmas Day and Dec. 26.

We take this opportunity to thank all of our
patrons and supporters for your thoughtfulness and kindness this past
year. Your generosity is very much appreciated.

Business
News

Wally Rediske owns and operates Coyote
Appliance Repair and Handyman with his wife, Debi. The Rediskes
started the business in July.

Coyote Appliance Repair and Handyman
provides its customers with full-service repair of all brands of
appliances and with a variety of remodel work.

Radiske is available seven days a week, with
24-hour emergency, on-call response.

Contact Coyote Appliance Repair and Handyman
at 264-3555 or 946-3493.

People

Mrs. Emma Shock
was honored recently by the Mount
Allison Grange No. 308 for her 60 years as a member of the Grange.
She has also completed 45 years in 4H and received the 4H Visionary
Award.

During the eight-week training program,
Kirtley completed a vigorous training curriculum consisting of
classroom academics and practical instruction on water safety and
survival, military customs and courtesies, seamanship skills, first
aid, fire fighting and marksmanship. A major emphasis is also placed
on physical fitness, health and wellness.

Kirtley and other recruits also received
instruction on the Coast Guard's three core values - honor, respect
and devotion to duty - and how to apply them in their military
performance and personal conduct. Kirtley will join 36,000 other men
and women who are the Coast Guard's force.

Men and women train together from the first
day in the Coast Guard, just as they do aboard ships and shore units
throughout the world. To reinforce the team concept, Kirtley, and
other recruits were trained in preventing sexual harassment, drug and
alcohol awareness, civil rights and the basics of work-life balance,
as well as total quality management.

Kirtley is a 2002 graduate of Pagosa Springs
High School.

Jacques Sarnow

Coast Guard Seaman Apprentice Jacques A.
Sarnow, son of Marcella J. and Stuart G. Sarnow of Pagosa Springs,
recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Training Center
in Cape May, N.J. and was promoted to his present rank.

During the eight-week training program,
Sarnow completed a curriculum consisting of classroom academics and
practical instruction on military customs and courtesies, water
safety and survival, seamanship skills, first aid, fire fighting and
marksmanship. A major emphasis is also placed on physical fitness and
health.

Sarnow and other recruits received
instruction on the Coast Guard's three core values - honor, respect
and devotion to duty - and how to apply them in their military
performance and personal conduct.

To reinforce the team concept, Sarnow and
the other recruits were trained in preventing sexual harassment, drug
and alcohol awareness, civil rights training and the basics of the
work-life balance, as well as total quality management. Sarnow is now
among 36,000 men and women who comprise the Coast Guard's
force.

Sarnow is a 2002 graduate of Pagosa Springs
High School of Pagosa Springs, Colo. and joined the Coast Guard in
September 2002.

Trevor Peterson

Trevor Peterson, the son of Betsy Carpino
and Pete Peterson of Pagosa Springs, recently completed a 17-week
regimen of Army infantry basic training at Fort Benning, Ga.

Peterson is with the 101st Airborne
Division, stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky. He will continue with
air-assault training and is scheduled for deployment to Kuwait in
mid-January.

Peterson is a 2002 graduate of Pagosa
Springs High School.

Joel Thompson

Friends and family of Joel Thompson wish to
announce his completion of the Ph.D. program at Kansas State
University Dec. 16, 2002. Dr. Thompson, a past math and science
teacher at Pagosa Springs High School, received his degree in
inorganic physical chemistry. He is now employed as a senior chemist
at Eltron Environmental Laboratory in Boulder.

Features

Golden Bells

Methodist handbell choir plays
for all seasons

By Tess Noel Baker

Staff Writer

Quodlibet.

According to Jody Hott, director of the
Community United Methodist handbell choir, in musical terms it means,
"a medley of songs put together - sometimes numerous," she said. "I
thought that fit our ringers."

And so, 20 years ago, Quodlibet became the
official name of the handbell choir. Over the years, the ringers have
lived up to the name, sharing much humor, much music and much
fellowship.

In handbells, each bell - made of an alloy
of tin and copper called bell bronze - plays a single note. In most
cases, each ringer is responsible for two notes and their accents, or
four handbells. However, with some of the smaller bells - bells that
produce the higher notes - it's possible to play four-in-hand, which
allows one person to hold and play four handbells at one time instead
of two.

The Methodist choir started with two
octaves, or 16 bells, in 1982. The bells were purchased with Fern
Hott Memorial Fund monies. Eight adult ringers and eight youth
members were recruited for two separate choirs. After a while, the
adult group grew, absorbing the youth.

"It wasn't long before we discovered we
needed more bells," Hott said. Through fund-raising and more
memorials, the choir's stash of bells has grown to four octaves, plus
a few extras on the low end. Playing all those gleaming bells
requires about 10 ringers.

"Of course, we can do it with eight, nine or
seven," she said. The choir meets for practice once a week in the
evenings and plays during Sunday church services about once a month.
However, this year the group is large enough that it's played every
Sunday in Advent.

To produce a general "ring," the bells are
held with the clapper facing up at the ceiling. Using a wrist action,
the ringer dips the bell and extends the arm sending the clapper
against the side of the bell to produce a tone. The sound is
dampened, or stopped, by bringing the bell back to the body and
resting the lip of the bell on the chest. To produce a shorter,
staccato sound, the clapper can actually be thrown against the sides
of the bell as it rests on the table. Other effects can be made by
malleting the bells - actually hitting them on the outside with soft
mallets - ringing and bouncing the bell lightly off the padded table
or swinging the bell next to the body.

Although many of the faces of the choir have
changed over the years as people moved in and out of Pagosa Springs,
graduated from high school, retired or raised children, some, like
Hott and Berkey Branch, have hung in from the beginning.

"I saw a bell choir in Texas," Branch said.
"I thought it looked so intriguing that once I got the kids so I
could leave them, I started coming." When she picked up the bells in
1983, she hadn't tried to read sheet music since she was a child.
Today, she memorizes it, playing in duets and small ensembles with
some of the other members of the choir.

"It's a great diversion," she said. "It's a
challenge. I like having a challenge and trying to do it
well."

Her duet partner, Lynn Constan, started
playing handbells just four years ago.

"I'd wanted to play the bells for 30 years
and when I moved to Pagosa Springs I found out they had a bell
choir," Constan said. She was attending another event at the church
one evening when she happened to mention her three-decade dream and
found herself suddenly standing before the choir. "They said this is
G, this is A and we're playing Sunday."

The great thing about the handbells, Hott
said, is that they are accessible to almost everyone. With just two
notes to play at beginning levels, anyone with a little music
background can pick it up fairly easily. It also allows time for
fellowship, for prayers and for friendships to form.

"I think back to when I first heard the bell
choir in Texas," Branch said. "It was Christmas and they were playing
in Fellowship Hall. I remember them laughing, and they must have made
mistakes, but I couldn't hear it. I thought it was just
great."

Old-time Pagosa through a
child's eyes

By John M. Motter

Staff Writer

Nothing is as refreshing as a child's view
of the world around them.

We in Pagosa are fortunate to have a
portrait of Pagosa Springs in 1879 as seen by Daisy Opdycke Fitzhugh.
Every year about Christmas time, I think of the wide-eyed Daisy who,
as an emerging 13-year-old, came with her family to Pagosa Springs in
1879.

A lot of folks who knew Daisy during her
final years are still alive and still remember her as a grand lady, a
lady with the now vanished carriage and convictions of the Victorian
era tempered, of course, by a dash of frontier "let's get it done"
brashness.

Pagosa Springs was an infant still in
diapers in 1879 when the Opdyckes arrived. From 20 to 30 false-front
business houses lined San Juan Street on the east side of the river
and stretched south along the road to Mill Creek, the same road used
by the stage to reach town from the south. If you said Mill Creek, no
one would have known what you were talking about. That rivulet was
known as Agua Fria, Spanish for Cold Water. And you couldn't call the
road Light Plant Boulevard. The light plant wouldn't be built for
another 25 years.

Across the river from the fledgling town
were the log buildings of Fort Lewis including 10 enlisted barracks,
four officer's barracks and a few other buildings, all surrounding a
parade ground. Every morning, townspeople heard the post trumpeter
rousing the troops from their beds. Along the river where today's
courthouse reposes, a number of tents were pitched. The tents housed
certain command functions and the troops of the Ninth Calvary's
Company D, the famous buffalo soldiers. Most of the buffalo soldiers
had been recruited in the Deep South a few short months
earlier.

Daily stagecoaches thundered through town,
on their way between the end of the railroad at Chama and the
burgeoning population of the Animas Valley, stretching all of the way
from Animas City to Silverton. Durango hadn't been invented
yet.

The stages paused in Pagosa Springs allowing
weary passengers time for a little respite, maybe a meal at the San
Juan Hotel, the Hamilton House or even the Opdyke place located
between the San Juan River and San Juan Street. Some of the travelers
stayed overnight or longer, hoping to benefit from prolonged bathing
in the mineral waters of the Great Pagosa Hot Spring.

The Opdycke front door looked across the
street at the Rosebud Saloon, and beyond to what we know today as
Reservoir Hill. At that time, the hill was probably known as Robidoux
Hill. The reservoir and town water system were 25 years down the road
in the future.

Daisy's parents were Jacob Van Horn and
Catherine Young Opdycke. With four young children and wagons pulled
by oxen, the Opdycke's made the long journey from Missouri to
Colorado in 1878, and on to Pagosa Springs in 1879. In her memoirs
recorded in 1942, Daisy recalled the following about the trek across
the San Juan Mountains from the San Luis Valley to Pagosa Springs.
They arrived June 1, 1879.

"We had both exciting and amusing
experiences coming over the mountains; some places we had to tie
trees behind the wagons and other places we had to let the wagons
down with ropes. We met people coming from this country; my father
asked them where they have been and they said: 'Oh, we were over in
the San Jew-an (San Juan) and didn't like that country so we're
gettin' out.' They asked, 'Where are you folks going?' My father
answered, 'We are going to the San Whan (San Juan) Country.' Neither
one knew they were talking about the same locality."

Little Daisy described her new home with
surprising clarity and more than a little nostalgia.

"Fort Lewis was located at Pagosa then and
five companies of soldiers stationed here. There was a guard at the
bridge and those who could get passes would cross over, but those who
couldn't get passes would go up the river and wade across to the town
of Pagosa Springs and then they would be arrested and put in the
guard house.

"Almost every building in town was a saloon.
Across the street from our house was a saloon called the Rose Bud; it
had big roses painted over the front. One morning I was standing in
the front door of my mother's home, looking around. Everything was
very quiet; all at once a man came out the front door of the Rose Bud
and he had a gun in his hand. At the same time a man came out of the
side door of the saloon. The man with the gun shot and the other
fell. I ran back to the kitchen where my mother was getting dinner
and told her; she said 'Don't ever tell anyone you saw Big Aleck
shoot that man. If you do, they will take you to Conejos for a
witness and keep you in jail.' Conejos was the county seat and it
took about four days to go there, so I surely never did tell until I
was fifty years old."

Someone brought a croquet set to town and
set it up on a flat place across from the Opdyke house. As Daisy and
others used mallets to tap balls through wickets, the following
interruption occurred.

"One afternoon we were out playing croquet
when we heard a horse coming across the bridge and a man yelling and
shooting. Here came Henry Gordon and he began showing us how to knock
the balls through the wickets with bullets. He had it all his own way
in a few minutes - we were hiding behind everything we could find.
The cowboys habitually came in to shoot up the town and have wild
times."

Ute Indians were also a familiar sight for
the young girl.

"They were always begging for bread.
Buckskin Charley was always wanting me to ride his ponies and he told
my mother if Pagosa ever burned, he would take care of me. Mother
forbade me ever to get on any of his ponies, for fear he might steal
me and I would never get back; so I was afraid.

"During the fall of the Meeker Massacre
(1879) the Utes would come into town and hold war dances. Of course,
our soldiers were all gone except for a few. I didn't realize the
danger; it was fun for me. But nothing happened."

Almost every family had their own little
bath house in those days, according to Daisy. In the morning they
filled large, built-in, wooden tubs contained in the houses. By
afternoon the water had cooled enough for bathing.

A building east of the hot spring was used
for a school, community dances, church conducted by traveling parsons
and other community doings.

With no central water and all of the
buildings constructed of wood, fire was an ever-present
danger.

"There was an old German and his wife who
ran a saloon and they lived at the back," Daisy recalled. "One day
their house caught on fire and everyone ran with pails and formed a
line from the river. The old lady got so excited she jumped up and
down and knocked her wooden shoes together and kept crying, 'Somebody
get up there and pour water on me!'"

As soldiers have always done, the Fort Lewis
soldiers kept protective watch over the young lady. When Garfield was
elected president in 1880, the soldiers wanted to celebrate. Their
celebration involved Daisy.

"They had a small cannon at the fort, which
they placed on the river bank, pointing it up the river; they loaded
it with tin cans which were filled with pebbles. They came over and
asked my mother if she would let me fire the cannon. She was afraid I
would get hurt, but they promised her there was no danger so I fired
the cannon and such a report you never heard! I was deaf for a week,
but anyway, I fired the cannon for Garfield."

When the railroad finally reached Durango in
August of 1881, Daisy and her family watched the silver spike
celebration heralding the event. They traveled to Durango in a
covered wagon.

"That was the most thrilling trip I ever
had; it took two days to go over to Durango. Everyone was so glad to
see me and loaded me down with candy, lace mitts, silk handkerchiefs,
fans, and everything one could think of. I went to the dance at the
Smelter. I will never forget that trip."

Little girls, and even communities, grow up.
Left behind are memories, almost always sugarcoated with nostalgia.
About 60 years later, Daisy wrote:

"On the 20th of September 1881, I left
Pagosa Springs to go East to school and didn't get back until some
years later. Then everything had changed; the soldiers were all gone;
the town was moved and the old parade ground was laid out into lots,
streets and parks and nothing looked the same except for the big
boiling hot springs; and the mineral waters smelled the same; those
were the only unchanged things in my old home town on the banks of
the San Juan River."

Motter's comments: Mrs. Daisy Fitzhugh died
Oct. 4, 1956, after living most of 77 years in Pagosa Springs.
According to her obituary, she married Edward McIntire, who passed
away at his Chromo ranch Dec. 20, 1906. She then married Edgar J.
Fitzhugh who died in March of 1916. I have not learned that she had
any children. For Daisy Fitzhugh's story, I am indebted to the book,
"Pioneers of the San Juan Country," published in 1942 by the Sarah
Platt Decker Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in
Durango by the Out West Printing and Stationery Company of Colorado
Springs.

Editorial

No more interesting

There is a well-traveled curse that fits the
Year 2002: "May you live in interesting times." The meaning is clear
when we consider the events of this nearly exhausted year: It is
often more unsettling to live in an atmosphere distinguished by the
tension of possibilities, than in one where the course is
well-established, where the situation is defined and the immediate
future illuminated for all to see. In a sense, the "interesting"
situation is more disturbing than a bleak condition. Once the die is
cast, the reality can be digested and accepted. When there is no
clear resolution, when ambiguity tinges important events, there is
little true comfort.

As this year ends, we definitely live in
interesting times, as members of a nation and of our small community
here in the San Juan's.

The stability and prosperity we took for
granted for a decade or so has been shaken. Predictions are a dime a
dozen: no one seems to know what course the economy will take.

Our economy has been hit with repeated
blows, with many of us losing money and confidence in the process.
Hardly a day passes without news of a company or corporation
crumbling, marked by the disgrace of dishonest executives, damaged or
undone by inept management.

Our nation has been attacked and seems
destined to be the target of more hostility. The world has grown
decidedly less friendly for Americans and our global role is the
subject of intense debate.

It seems we are on the brink of war in the
Middle East again, and one in which the outcome does not guarantee us
lasting peace

Locally, we survived a vigorous political
season and we traversed a foggy economic landscape

There were concerns about whether or not
growth will continue; there were questions posed concerning what kind
of growth is desirable and how it should be handled. The dramatic
growth seen during the last decade was not in evidence, but signs
that the trend was ending were not present either.

There was evidence of a prosperous class
increasing its numbers in the community as well as evidence of a
widening gulf between those who have, and those who don't.

What's going to happen?

The tourist business, our lifeblood, is tied
to factors beyond our control and whether or not our guests continue
to visit in increasing numbers is of concern. As the world outside
Archuleta County goes, so goes tourism.

Who knows what will occur?

Our local governmental institutions survived
the year; some sustained scrapes and bruises, were the objects of
criticism and doubt. We voted to give entities more money, but at the
same time did so without overwhelming confidence.

Drought and the risk of wildfire stressed
our environment. How long will these threats continue?

These are interesting times. What will come
next?

It is like sitting in a parked and idling
vehicle, not knowing whether the machine will be put in gear to move
forward or if it will move in reverse.

But, all is not loose ends; at least the
vehicle is idling. There is obviously gas in the tank as the journey
into the next year begins.

We have good company for the trip. We live
in a vibrant nation and community, blessed with ample talent,
compassion and energy.

And there is snow on the peaks. Vacation
visitors are motoring our way.

This nation has survived uncertain times in
the past, and so has our community. Pagosa Country has always had the
resources and will to forge ahead.

A new year will soon be upon us.

We hope it is less interesting than
2002.

Karl Isberg

Dear Folks

A season for taking note of
names

(This Dear Folks was first printed Dec. 20,
2001)

Names are attracting special attention this
Christmas season.

With the ongoing war in Afghanistan, the
names of unfamiliar locales such as Jalalabad, Kunduz, Kabul,
Kandahar, Tora Bora and others are sharing the limelight with the
better known "little town" of Bethlehem.

Names of individuals engaged in the assaults
against the Taliban are likewise meriting special mention.

Folks who read Saturday's Rocky Mountain
News probably noticed the name Robinson Cortez at the top of a Page
9A article that was datelined "CAMP RHINO, Afghanistan." A 1999
graduate of Pagosa Springs High School, Robinson is serving with the
26th Marine Expeditionary Unit as it helps secure control of
Kandahar's airport. The three-column, two-line kicker running above
the article quoted Lance Cpl. Cortez's statement: "We want to do
something to be part of the history that's being made. Humanitarian
or combat, they're both just as important." No longer an attentive
pupil studying world history at Pagosa Springs High School, Robinson
currently is an active participant in shaping world history.

Names of Afghanistan fighting for the
opposition forces also are drawing attention. News accounts such as a
recent Associated Press report datelined TORA BORA, Afghanistan,
reported that "Ghafar, a leader in the tribal eastern alliance, said
the al-Qaida fighters are believed to Š 'They have to hand them over,
but they didn't want to,' said Ghafar who goes by one name Š" The
fact that most Afghani citizens use only one name has been
consistently noted in reports on the opposition forces.

Long before the advent of Sept. 11 and
America's resulting military engagements in Afghanistan, most folks
already were familiar with the Middle Eastern custom of identifying
individuals by only a single name. For many centuries, folks
worldwide have read about individuals who were identified by one name
- Gabriel, Elizabeth, Zacharias, John, Mary, Joseph, Herod,
Jesus.

To some folks, knowing Jesus on a personal,
"first-name basis" is the true significance of Christmas. To others,
Jesus is only a historical name. Or to some, the name Jesus is merely
the major spontaneous utterance included in their profanity
vocabulary. To the linguist, the name Jesus comes from the Hebrew
word for saviour.

Though Jesus is known by some as simply
being a carpenter from the town of Nazareth, following Jesus'
crucifixion, burial and resurrection was prophesied that in the
eventual course of history " Š that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, Š and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Later, it was also said of
Jesus that "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other
name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be
saved."

The Bible reportedly is one of the most
purchased books, while at the same time being one of the least read
books in America. In a similar irony Jesus - "the gift of God" -
is the greatest gift ever offered mankind but is the most rejected.
That in itself is nothing new. Following the completion of his
ministry on earth, it was written of Jesus that " Š He came to His
own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name Š"

Yes, once again as folks pursue peace on
earth and goodwill toward man, the name Jesus is attracting
attention.

Know you are loved and please keep us in
your prayers.

David C. Mitchell

Legacies

90 years ago

Taken from Pagosa Springs New Era files of Dec. 27, 1912

Welch Nossaman and one or two associates recently purchased 10,000
acres of land out of the Tierra grant, principally for grazing
purposes. The land lays along the Navajo on the south.

Yesterday forenoon fire, caused by a defective flue, broke out in
the McGirr building on San Juan Street next to the bridge, but the
prompt action of citizens with the fire fighting apparatus prevented
a serious conflagration.

The Star Bakery is closing out some of its grocery and lunch stock
and will add homemade candies as a new line.

The Hatcher Mercantile Co. has a permit to run 14,000 head of
sheep on the San Juan National Forest.

75 years ago

Taken from SUN files of Dec. 30, 1927

With the advent of real cold weather and necessity for heavy
fires, it behooves everyone to see that their stoves and flues are in
the best possible condition - to prevent another winter conflagration
in Pagosa Springs.

The Pagosa High School Wolverines journeyed to Durango Wednesday
and that evening met the Durango Demons on the basketball court. The
Wolverines emerged from the ordeal on the short end of a 41-9 score,
though they fought gamely until the final whistle.

There will be a regular New Year's Rally at the dance to be given
at the Carlsbad Lodge tomorrow night. Favors for all, confetti and
noise-making devices - as all are supposed to have a good time.

50 years ago

Taken from SUN files of Dec. 26, 1952

The results of the Christmas lighting contest were made public
this week after the judging last week-end. The Vic Poma residence won
the $25 first prize in the home lighting and the PTA first in
organizational, with a prize of $10.

With the first day of winter officially arriving this week, along
with a snow storm, local residents can look forward to a white
Christmas. The storm over the weekend left several inches of new snow
on the Pass and considerable moisture in town where the snow melted
almost as fast as it fell.

The Christmas show and party for the children of the community was
held last Saturday with an estimated attendance of 375 or 400
children.

25 years ago

Taken from SUN files of Dec. 22, 1977

Approximately 18 inches of new snow on Wolf Creek Pass this past
week, put snowplow crews to work and created some excellent skiing at
the Wolf Creek Ski Area.

Gil Phillips, known locally as the igloo builder, will be in the
Wolf Creek Pass area next week camping and demonstrating winter
survival techniques to various groups.

John Swigert, who served as a member of the astronaut support crew
for Apollo 7, and later as command pilot for the Apollo 13 mission,
was a visitor here last week. He spoke at the local schools, and
visited with Republican leaders while in town. Mr. Swigert served in
the Air Force, in the National Guard, and was also a test pilot.